Youth gets seven years jail for raping minor

NEW DELHI: A youth has been given a seven- year jail term by a Delhi court for raping a 14-year-old girl in his house after spraying some anaesthetic substance on her.

Additional sessions judge Sanjeev Kumar held Rahim, 21, guilty and also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him.

The court, however, acquitted him of charges of kidnapping and threatening the girl on the ground that there were contradictions in her statement regarding these two allegations.

According to the prosecution, Rahim, a resident of Prem Nagar, had been following the girl, who lived in the same neighbourhood, for several days in June 2011 while she had been ignoring him.

On June 23, 2011, when the girl was going out with her friend, the accused called her inside his house and raped her after bolting the door of his room, the prosecution said.

The girl had told the police that Rahim sprayed some substance on her due to which she was unable to feel anything and Rahim had also threatened to kill her father if she disclosed the incident to anyone.

The court, in its judgement, said it was proved that the spray which was put by Rahim on the girl was an anaesthetic which corroborated her testimony that she felt she had no life in her body.

"Hence, it was evident that said spray was put on her by Rahim so that she could not make much resistance," it said.

The court also rejected the contention of Rahim that he should not be punished as the girl had also consented for physical relation, saying since the girl was less than 16 years and even if she had given consent for sexual intercourse, it would amount to rape.

"Considering the testimony of the witnesses and documents and in view of aforesaid facts and circumstances, I hold that prosecution has been able to prove beyond reasonable doubts that accused had committed sexual intercourse with the girl who is less than 16 years of age," the judge said.